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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Circulation dynamics in the Derwent Estuary

JD Thomson and JS Godfrey

Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36(6) 765 - 772
Published: 1985

Abstract

For moderate river discharges the Derwent estuary is strongly stratified in its upstream reaches; however, salt walter is flushed completely as far downstream as Bridgewater, for river discharges greater than about 150 m3 s-1. Salinity returns to normal in this section within about 10-20 days of a rainstorm. The main mixing mechanism appears to be surface stirring by the wind; a semi-empirical formula for wind-driven entrainment velocity gives values a factor of about 1 .5 too small, but this may be due to a number of sources of observational error. Tidal mixing is detectable in the upstream Derwent, but is small compared to wind mixing in terms of induced vertical flows.

https://doi.org/10.1071/MF9850765

© CSIRO 1985

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